27th January - Chongqing to Wanzhou...The longest bus journey....EVER!
We set off early morning in darkness for our supposed 4 hour bus ride to Wanzhou. From here we would be setting sail down the Yangtze River through The Three Gorges.
How little did we know!
The bus journey turned into a 15 hour nightmare! No one else on the bus spoke English and the problems began when the motorway appeared to have been shut due to bad weather. After taking a detour we then hit standstill in the middle of nowhere! We jumped off the bus to try and find some food but as very little was available we bought all the Oreo Cookies available in the street stall. After several hours not moving some of the people on the bus began raising their voices at the driver and then we were on the move again. We then arrived at a small train station and everyone on the bus began to leave. Not having a clue what was going on we were then told the bus would not be able to reach Wanzhou for 2 days! Rick and Muc jumped off the bus to see whether there were
Sleeper TrainChillaxing on the sleeper train on our 36 hour journey to Shanghai
any trains but we were then told there were no tickets until tomorrow! Back on the bus we were parked at the side of the road and a fight had broken out between a farmer and a police man. Exciting stuff!
After setting off at 8AM it had reached 4PM and was beginning to get dark. Then!!! A breakthough...we began to move again! We hit the motorway which seemed to have been reopened (although it was covered in snow) and finally arrived in Wanzhou at midnight!
Checked into a hotel and got some well deserved shut eye.
28th January - Yangtze River cruise arriving in Yichang
Another early rise and we were heading to the docks to board a hydrofoil boat which would get us on our way through the Three Gorges and onto Yichang.
The weather wasn't great as it was a little misty however the Gorges were still impressive. This is the point Ross made a fatal decision to eat an egg for lunch which came with his stir fry (a decision he would later regret!) Arrived in Yichang and headed straight back out for some dinner as the hotel (arranged coutesy of
Jimmy 'the slug' who we had met in Chongqing - dirty old man!) was yuck!
The food posioning hit Ross big time and I took him back to the hotel where he spent most the night being sick!
29 January - Train journey, Yichang - Shanghai
Ross was still struggling and was not looking forward to the prospect of what we thought was going to be a 17 hour train journey (how naive!)
We jumped on to the sleeper train and were very impressed with the beds! Managed to do a bit of swapping with our tickets to allow all 5 of us a place in the same cabin and we were also joined by a young Chinese boy who spoke some English.
Kicked back and did some serious reading/card playing/sleeping etc. The smell of noodles that occasionally wafted through the cabin set Ross off again who had to make frequent visits to the toilet! The lights were off a 10 and we were moving at great speed towards Shanghai!
30 January - Train journey, Yichang - Shanghai...STILL!
The time approached 1PM (our supposed time of arrival) and our surrounding became more urban.
CBS by nightView from our hostel bar of the river and the Bund
We packed everything up ready to leave the train and we began to slow as we entered the station.
The station sign read NANCHANG!!!!This was a good 300 miles South West of Shanghai!!!!We asked the Chinese boy in our cabin and with a little help from the Lonely Planet discovered we would be arriving in Shanghai at 1 TOMORROW!
Gutted! But passed the time by playing more cards and settled in for our second night on the train.
31 January - Train journey, Yichang - Shanghai...STILL!
Woke up wih a start to find the train attendant banging bottles over my head!!! What was going on?! Checked my watch and it was 12.30AM. After looking down the train every other passenger was ready with their bags! While we were all still in bed!
It looked like we would be arriving in Shanghai at 1AM!
Go off the train still a little dazed and walked into the train arrival terminal which was rammed with people sleeping on the floors waiting to get home for Spring Festival (Chinese New Year)
On the up side...we had made it to Shanghai! On the down side...it was 1 in
the morning! Caz and Rick jumped over a barrier at which point Caz cut his hand on a piece of glass. With very little food over the past two days he made it over to the bags before fainting! A bit worrying but we got our thinking caps on and devised a fool proof plan! With Caz still lacking energy Jonathon and I would stick with him while Muc and Rick went in search of the nearest Macdonalds. After 2 hours they arrived back with rations.
Everyone was feeling a little better and at 6AM we headed down to the subway to the Bund where we had booked ourselves into the Captain Youth Hostel. Sraight to bed!
Woke up late afternoon and went for a stroll down the Bund beside the river. A great day for it as the sun was shining. Spirits were high after a challenging few days! We were approached by two chinese studens who offered to take us for a drink however, after doing some reading before arriving in Shanghai we had found that this was a common scam and, although the couple may have been genuine, declined.
In the evening we walked down the main shopping street, Nanjing Road, where lights shone from every window. A great place to walk in the evening and we were again approached by more 'students' offering us the chance to see their art...another scam we feared. Then to finish the day off we went up to the hostel bar which ha amazing views over the Bund and relaxed with a well deserved Tsingtao Beer.
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